salienne: (Default)
It has been a very long time since I've read a book.

Work, what I should be doing, politics, freaking out over work and what I should be doing and politics, and guilting over not playing more with my cat have pretty much taken over my life and eaten my soul. These past few days, though, I was finally able to carve some time out for Le Guin's The Left Hand of Darkness, and maybe I've just fallen out of practice with reading--and this makes me so sad I don't even know what to do with it--but I am very confused. I don't even know why I'm confused. I just am.

So, for those of you who have read The Left Hand of Darkness, where am I supposed to be at the end of this book, other than sad and somewhat hopeful for the ~future~ of humankind? What's with the gender dualism and how much did 60's attitudes factor into it? Did we really need, like, dozens and dozens of pages describing really cold places? Was that slashy? And Estraven? This is more just me fangirling and Spoilers ) Just... what's going on here?

idunno, I need to read more books, but someone discuss with me here!

ETA: Wiki tells me it's meant to be feminist. How is it feminist? I am so confused.

Hee

Jul. 23rd, 2009 07:24 pm
salienne: (you go squish now)
Possibly getting into Torchwood fandom when CoE spoilers ) is a bad idea, but I am loving The Sin Eaters audiobook.

At one point, the author adopts the POV of a cat. And the cat falls into the Hub and lands on Ianto's head.

Best. Gym. Soundtrack. Ever.

O____O

Jan. 6th, 2009 04:53 am
salienne: (Default)
So, I should not be awake right now. I had class Monday morning and will again Wednesday morning. I was planning on going to bed about 2 hours ago.

Except, of course, I then began reading The Writer's Tale, and if you haven't gotten it guys, I'm telling you to get it, because I'm honestly finding it more fascinating than any Neil Gaiman novel. I've seriously got a highlighter out, and I'm giggling every other page.

Also, RTD and I apparently share the same birthday (4/27). Just... do what now? When did this happen and why was I not informed? I just sort of stared at the page for a bit and then decided, yeah, sleep, sleep would be good.

So... yeah, sorry for the complete and utter lack of a point to this post; hopefully that will change in, say, about 10 hours, factoring in buying-milk-for-breakfast time?
salienne: (Default)
So here I am, safe and sound with 16 hours of sleep under my belt (and really annoying vertigo, but I get that often and that's beside the point) in my cousin's apartment. In Moscow. Which is, um, yeah, badass, though the most I've seen of Russia thus far is the airport, tiny elevators that close on you, billboards that are partially in English (there's a really bizarre amount of English everywhere), lots and lots of rain, and Russian TV. See, I haven't actually left the apartment today. First sleeping, now babysitting my grandmother. So, um, yay?

But the plug converter (the one my uncle gave me; the one my dad gave me failed) works, my compy is working, and the wireless works on my laptop. w007.

I am, however, far too lazy to post anything too detailed right now, so instead, here are Breaking Dawn thoughts:

Spoilers spoilers, and, ZOMG, spoilers )

Also, Tennyson was mentioned, and this made me think of [livejournal.com profile] rosa_acicularis and giggle.

ETA: My grandmother has textbook GAD. I wonder if there is any way to treat 86-year-old women who can't speak English.
salienne: (Lestat grow up and be stable)
I grew up on this guy's books, and I just haven't read any of them in years. *Pouts*

I just ordered Road to Nowhere and Whisper of Death (scared the CRAP out of me) off of amazon. And I'd order The Last Vampire series, but it's too long... But I was obsessed. And Remember Me was pretty good, I believe, and Chain Letter.

These books formed my horror/fantasy/sci-fi obsession like whoa.
salienne: (Aeryn)
...but the entire point is that "woman who is kind and meek and patient will be rewarded." Dear God, this girl is a freaking saint. She's unnatural. It's driving me nuts. @_@

Yet I'm still watching this made-for-tv version because it's pretty damn good and I adored the book when I read it. And it was written by the sister of the woman who wrote Wuthering Heights. And it is a wonderful story.

Jane is still driving me nuts, though. Oh how I prefer modern-day characterization.

EDIT: No, wait! She manages to have a crying fit and Rochester proposes in response!

And these people can't stage kiss. Like, at all. It's really entertaining.

EDIT 2: Okay, my initial complaint still stands, but hey, the guy gets screwed over in the end. Hoorah. @_@ Now I refuse to read into this because it's from the 1800's and I can excuse things, I really can. And the end made me grin, dammit!

Ah yes, and I am also back at Johns Hopkins, and I have class on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. Monday, I've decided, will be writing day, and Tuesday will be writing and observing CBT training. Shame I can't do the fantasy writing workshop (mainly because of the CBT training), but since I'll do that anyway... *Shrugs*

Now to keep watching. And maybe watch some Doctor Who. And completely fail at getting to a normal sleeping schedule. XD
salienne: (Pirate)
Snape is actually Heathcliff.

The moment I read about baby Catherine I was like, DUDE, HARRY!!! Clearly it's not the SAME, and I've only just reached the part where li'l Cathy is born, but think about it: the only real deeming characteristic of both men is their love and the good that comes out of it. Naturally there's a lot less good where Heathcliff is concerned, but he doesn't leave the little girl to starve after both parents are dead, even though he absolutely loathes the father.

Now, Snape isn't as BAD, I don't think, but...

Snape is still Heathcliff.

Ok, bye! ^.^
salienne: (Lestat grow up and be stable)
So... a day after getting the book, I have finished "Eclipse" by Stephanie Meyer (I would have finished it last night had I not had my driving exam today; I totally got my license, btw! XD) and, as a result, have me quite a few thoughts on it. And here they be, under a cut, just in case some of you are reading too.

Why I loved this book, and why some parts of it bug me to no end )

So… yeah, definite mixed feelings about “Eclipse” that I just had to share with my fl, even if probably no one has read the book but me. :P But really, y'all should check it out, because it IS a good book. It just has its flaws, and besides that "writing" flaw, the flaws are really just centered around my opinions.
salienne: (Hope XF)
Hey, guys. As you all may or may not know, for my senior project, I'm planning on writing the beginning of a novel. My project overseer suggested that I have about 10-15% reading (out of four forty-hour weeks), so.... any suggestions on good scifi/fantasy novels? (Those that take place in "our world" but have a dash of fantasy/sci-fi are especially what I'm looking for).

So far, I've got Card's two books on writing sci-fi/fantasy and on character, so just novels is good now. I'm thinking "Timeline" by Crichton for starters, perhaps...

Thanks all!
salienne: (Default)
Snagged from [livejournal.com profile] neytaritook

Here are the current top 50 books from http://www.whatshouldireadnext.com. Bold the books you have read. Italicize the books you plan to read. Leave the rest.

The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown
The Catcher in the Rye - J.D. Salinger
The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy - Douglas Adams

The Great Gatsby - F.Scott Fitzgerald
To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
The Time Traveler's Wife - Audrey Niffenegger
His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling

Life of Pi - Yann Martel
Animal Farm: A Fairy Story - George Orwell
Catch-22 - Joseph Heller
The Hobbit - J. R. R. Tolkien
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon
Lord of the Flies - William Golding
Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
1984 - George Orwell
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling
One Hundred Year of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden
The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini
The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
Slaughterhouse 5 - Kurt Vonnegut
Angels and Demons - Dan Brown
Fight Club - Chuck Palahniuk

Neuromancer - William Gibson
Cryptonomicon - Neal Stephenson
The Secret History - Donna Tartt
A Clockwork Orange - Anthony Burgess
Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte
Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
American Gods - Neil Gaiman
Ender's Game - Orson Scott Card
Snow Crash - Neal Stephenson
A Prayer for Owen Meany - John Irving
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe - C.S. Lewis
Middlesex - Jeffrey Eugenides
Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell
The Lord of the Rings - J. R. R. Tolkien
Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte

Good Omens - Terry Pratchett, Neil Gaiman
Atonement - Ian McEwan
The Shadow Of The Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon
The Old Man and the Sea - Ernest Hemingway (GAG. So. Boring.)
The Handmaid's Tale - Margaret Atwood
The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath
salienne: (Default)
One word: brilliant. I know I always say this, but this is honestly my favorite of all of them. I can see why others might not like it, but I love it.

***SPOILER WARNING***
My Thoughts )

Everyone is ordered to read this book. It's just... beyond words good. My new favorite novel, better than QOTD I think at the moment.

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